


The Stars Above

by Yourstolose



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), Author Is Sleep Deprived, Azula (Avatar) is A Good Sibling, M/M, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, The Author Regrets Everything, Zuko (Avatar) is a Good Brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29034504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yourstolose/pseuds/Yourstolose
Summary: Azula's childhood was not an easy one, but with the help and support of her brother she could get through anything. In one horrible moment, her entire world changes.TW/ character death, violence.
Relationships: Azula & Iroh (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 108





	The Stars Above

**Author's Note:**

> Was this something I wrote to work through my own issues? Absolutely. Should I have finished my calculus homework instead of writing this crap? Absolutely. Do I regret it? Absolutely.

“Hey, look at how bright the stars are tonight.” Zuko makes his way towards her. He picks a spot on the dewy field, miles from their house. It was the first month of Summer vacation. Zuko had just turned thirteen, Azula eleven. 

“I thought I might find you here.” 

“Did dad hurt you?” She looks at him, her eyes pleading for him to say, “no.” 

He brings an arm around her, holding her close to his chest. 

“Just a little bit. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

She hugs him tighter. “I was so scared, Zuzu. I thought he was going to hit me.”

“You never have to worry about that, ‘zula. I’ll never let him hurt you.” 

“What happens if you aren't here to protect me? What happens if he tries to hurt me like he has hurt you.” She traces her fingers at the edge of his cheek, against the rough scar their father had given him just a month ago.

“I'll always be here, no matter what. Just like the stars, I'll always be with you. Even when you can't see them, they watch over your every move.” 

So she looks up at the sky. A million little lights stare back at her, watching over her. 

…..

“I’m eighteen now. I don't have to follow your nonsensical rules any longer.”

Zuko just had his birthday, June 5th, not that their father would have remembered. Next fall he would be attending a fancy private university on the East Coast, across the country. He would be leaving her. 

“As long as you are in my house you will follow my orders.” Ozai answers cooly, not even bothering to look up from his dinner. 

“Then maybe i’ll go.” He says in a hushed voice. As if he just came up with the idea. 

“By all means, do me a favor and get your insufferable attitude out of here.” 

“C’mon Azula. Let’s pack up our stuff.” Azula looks between Ozai and Zuko. The latter is looking at her with pleading eyes. Silently asking her to be brave and get out of there with him. She doesn't know what to do, so she just sits there. 

Ozai smiles smugly, but that smile disappears when she pushes her chair back and stands up. She nods at Zuko. 

“Where exactly do you think you are going?” This time, Ozai does look up, his expression absolutely terrifying. She has never disobeyed father. 

“I’m going, too.” She says in a voice much more confident than she feels. 

“No. You are sixteen. I make the decisions, I am the adult.” He is fuming at this point. 

She can barely believe the words that come out of her mouth, but tries to remain strong in her grievances, “That won't be the case when I tell authorities how horrible you have been all these years. Permanently scarring your son across the face does not bode well in a court. Hitting your child for the smallest of infractions and sometimes for nothing is cruel and wrong. Manipulating your children and pitting them against each-”

For the first time and the last time, Ozai hits her. 

She stares in shock for a full minute. Zuko is the first to move. He lunges at Ozai and pins him to the ground, but Ozai is faster. 

He grabs the steak knife from the corner and wields it at Zuko. 

“You are a coward and a traitor to your family. This little outburst will be your last.” 

Zuko looks at Ozai in disbelief as he plunges the knife deep in his stomach, then pulls it out. 

Frantically, Zuko looks at the blood stain that quickly spreads across his shirt. Azula tries to run towards him, but a crazed looking Ozai pins her to the wall. 

“And you. I raised you to be so much better than this, so much better than him.” He nods over to a shocked Zuko who is still trying to figure out what just happened, she isn't so sure herself. 

“If you are so set on becoming just like your failure of a brother, then so be it.” He pulls back his arm and extends it forward. She waits to feel the cold steel pierce her skin, but it never comes. 

She opens her eyes to see Zuko holding the knife, and their father pressing a palm to the big gash on his neck, only to have it drenched with blood. As he stumbles towards the ground, he reaches out for them, no one reaches back. Ozai is gone immediately. 

…..

Zuko hangs his arm around Azula as they stagger across the dining room. 

She pulls herself together enough to call an ambulance. She can't remember what she told them. 

“Azula, I can't make it any further. Can you set me down?” As gently as she can, she rests him on the persian rug in the living room. 

He starts coughing and spits out mouthful of blood. Azula knew that could not be good. 

Deliriously, he examines the bruise on her cheek.

“Are you hurt?” 

She shakes her head, not trusting her voice to sound out any words. She feels something tickling her ankle and realizes it’s blood. Zuko’s blood. choking down a sob, she presses on the wound.

“Azula, look at the stars. They’re shining so bright tonight.” 

But they are indoors with no stars in sight. She presses harder. It doesn’t help. Blood keeps pouring out. She’s pretty sure at this point there is more blood on the floor than in his body. 

She frantically looks at her phone. It’s been 10 minutes since she called the ambulance. “Where the fuck are they. They have to be here by now.” Azula knows this is not looking good. The ambulance is going to take a while and Zuko is losing a lot of blood. 

“Okay, Okay I can do this. We need to apply pressure to the wound and get you sitting up. I think I can find a first aid kit if I can just-” 

“Hey, please look at me.” 

She shakes her head, tears falling from her face. He lifts her chin so she has no other choice than to look in his eyes. There’s sweat plastering his hair to his forehead. He looks so pale and small. Just like when they were kids. His eyes still hold that golden warmth their father could never snuff out. 

“I’m so proud of the person you have become. You are so strong and brave, Azula. I know Mom would be too. You are going to do amazing things. I just know it. " 

Azula knows what this is. He’s telling her that he’s leaving. 

“Why are you saying goodbye? You are not going anywhere. You are going to live a long, happy life. There’s so much you still have left to do. You can't go yet. I promise I’ll be a better sister. I’ll never yell at you again. I’ll stop lying. Just please-“ she grips Zuko’s shirt and sobs into his chest. 

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. Everything is going to be just fine. Okay, Azula?” He caresses her hair like he’s scared she’s going to disappear if he lets go. 

“Can you do me a favor?” She nods against him. 

“Don’t remember me like this. I don't want you to look back and think of this moment.”

Her fear and worry has now turned to anger and defiance. "I won't need to remember you. You will be right by my side for the rest of our lives. This isn't the end." 

He gives her a little smile. "I wish it didn't have to be, but I wouldn't want this any other way. Please, Azula. Don't look back and think of the bad. Remember all moments when the world was a little bit brighter. Just allow me this. Promise?" 

Hesitantly, she responds. “I promise.” 

She listens to his breathing as it gets shallower and shallower. She has seen enough crime tv shows to know blood is filling his lungs. 

When she looks back at him his eyes seem glazed over, like he’s looking far, far away. 

She shakes him. 

“Come on, Zuko. Just hold on a bit longer.” She can’t stop sobbing now. “Please don’t go. Please don’t leave me. Zuko, you can’t leave me.” 

He looks up at her for the last time. 

“Leave? I could never do that. I’ll always be right here.” 

His hand goes limp in her own. She shakes him. Tries to get him to sit up. Hysterically she gives him CPR, but deep down she knows: he’s gone. 

The EMTs show up moments later. 

His body convulses with the electric shocks. But nothing happens. She doesn’t have the heart to tell them that he isn’t going to wake up. They pull a black cloth over his body and load it into the ambulance. 

And just like that, he is gone. 

.....

She doesn’t speak the entire car ride to their Uncle’s. When they get there, Uncle Iroh crumples up in sobs realizing he just lost another son. She wants to reach out to him, to sob with him, to tell him how much she had loved him too, but she is frozen in place; for she has never existed without his constant presence. 

She makes her way to the spare room, where Zuko spent most of his time. She is surprised to see how full of life it is, so unlike his room at their Father’s. There are pictures of his friends covering every inch of the walls. She met them a couple of times, Toph, Aang, Katara, Suki, and Sokka, she thinks. 

She was pretty sure Sokka and her brother were dating, but never asked. Seeing the polariod photos of them kissing in a photo booth confirms her suspicions. 

Hanging in the center of the wall, is a picture of him and Azula smiling brightly into the camera. She remembers that day. They went to the heart of the city where he bought her ice cream, something she had never had before. He took her to the theater and showed her how make a wish at the fountain. She never told him, but her wish was that every day could be like that one. Just the two of them with the world at their fingertips. That was the best day of her life. And in one horrible moment, it all was gone. Forever, he is gone. 

Azula tumbles into the bathtub, desperate to get any sign of this day off of her. She has convinced herself that if she can wash it away, then he will come back to her. Smiling and laughing as if this whole thing were an elaborate joke, he would come back and wipe away her sorrows, just as he had done countless times before. She sits on the floor of the tub, watching as the water turns from clear to rust. In a world of panic, she realizes what she has just done. That was the last of him. She has lost the last moment they spent together. Now, she has nothing. 

…..

She didn’t have it in her to go to the funeral. She knew hundreds of people would be there. Young deaths tend to draw a crowd, especially when they met a tragic end.

All they would look back on was his anguished death. Not the way he lived in spite of all the pain he had been dealt. The way he loved without fear, even though all he had ever been taught was hurt. The way he protected those he loved, even when he couldn’t protect himself. All that would be washed away. He would be washed away. All the light he gave to the world now be turned to ash. 

She spends the day searching the room for some piece of him. Some sign that he is still there, watching over her, just as he had promised. 

She doesn't realize Uncle Iroh is there until he starts talking. 

“The service was lovely. Countless people showed up. I had no idea Zuko had so many friends. One of his classmates, Jet, gave a wonderful reciting of a poem he wrote.” 

“Zuko always hated Jet.” She whispers. 

Iroh pauses.

“Well, anyways, someone wanted to come and see you.” 

She doesn't know who she is expecting, but definitely not him. 

Sokka stands in the door frame. He is dressed in all black and looks like he has been crying all day. He probably has been. 

“You didn't go to the funeral.” She doesn't respond. 

He moves towards her and sits at the edge of the bed.

“I don’t blame you. I hardly could myself.” 

“I know that this must be so difficult, I just wanted to tell you how much he loved you. I don’t know how much Zuko told you about our er- um relationship, but we spent a lot of time together. We talked about pretty much everything under the sun, but whenever you came up he absolutely lit up. I had never seen him so excited about something. He was so proud of everything you did. How much smarter you were than everyone else. How brave you were even when you were scared. How you were going to conquer the world. He thought the world of you.”  
Sokka looks over at her to see silent tears trailing down her face. 

“Anyways, I don't think he would have changed anything. He gave his life to protect you. The thing he loved most. He wouldn't have traded that for the world.” 

At that, Azula grabs Sokka and sobs into his chest. For hours, they stay that way. Sobbing and sobbing until she falls into a dreamless sleep. 

…..

When she wakes up, the world is completely dark. She tiptoes past Iroh’s room and makes her way past the kitchen to the front door. The door creaks behind her, but she pays it no attention. With the dewy grass beneath her feet, she makes her way to the field where she and Zuko spent so much of their childhood.

She tries to think of all their memories together, just like she promised. She thinks of when they caught fireflies beneath their clasped hands. She thinks of the games of tag he always beat her at. She thinks of all the times he would croon her sorrows at this very field. He gave so much light to the world, is it possible that some of it stayed, settled in her memories? 

She looks up at the stars, just like Zuko had told her to. They twinkled down at her, watching over her every move. 

Finally, she had found him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry for everything, lol.


End file.
